Heat revives flea beetles. After a few weeks with no flea beetle pressure, they have shown up again with the heat. Crop seeded recently will still have seed treatment protection, but for crop seeded weeks ago that have been slow to establish, scout closely.

Cutworms are still feeding and damage is the most widespread we’ve ever seen. “There is serious spraying going on,” says Doug Moisey. One farmer around Rycroft, Alta., sprayed 1,500 acres for cutworms in the past week. Remember: Look for blank areas in the field as well as cut canola plants. Both can be signs of cutworm damage. For more on cutworms as well as weeds and other insects, listen to Doug Moisey on ACPC radio.

Look for apothecia as an early sign of sclerotinia threat. Sclerotinia stem rot prevention requires a fungicide application on the petals at 20% to 50% flower, and the tiny mushroom-like apothecia (pictured below) are a sign of sclerotinia to come. Use the CCC’s Canola Disease Scouting & Risk Assessment Card to help determine whether a spray is warranted.

Give yellow canola time to recover. Rather than spend any money to save yellow canola, leave it be until the ground dries up and the crop starts growing again. When that happens, look for white healthy roots as a sign the crop can recover. Brown decaying roots mean a dead crop that isn’t worth further investment.

Tank mix tip: Before tank mixing herbicides and insecticides, make sure the timing is right for all target pests. Note that for cutworm in particular, the best time to spray is later in the evening when they’ve moved up to the surface. Liberty, which works better in the heat of day and full sunlight, will provide optimal performance with a separate application. With glyphosate, the evening application will generally not interfere will weed control. Also cutworms are not usually general across the whole field, so spot spraying is often the best practice.

Coming event: The Alberta Canola Producers Commission is hosting a canola research tour Wednesday, June 30 from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m at the AAFC’s research centre in Lacombe. Pre-registration is required. Lunch is included. Click here for more information and to register.

Coming event: Southern Applied Research Association at Lethbridge offers its one-day Diagnostic Field School July 6, 7 and 8. The agenda includes CCC senior agronomy specialist Jim Bessel explaining how to minimize combine losses. For more information, call 403-381-5118 or email sara.research@connectcomm.ca

Coming Event: The Crop Diagnostic School in Carman, Manitoba will run July 6 to 9 and July 12 to 16. Attendance for a number of those days is already full. Click here for more information and to register.

Coming event: BCGPA will hold its Annual Field Crop Tour and BBQ July 14 starting 4:00 p.m. at the Fort St. John research farm.